| Obscura Silva | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Studio album by Soulers | ||
| Released | August 7, 2019 | |
| Recorded | June/August 2019 | |
| Genre | Doom metal | |
| Length | 70:38 | |
| Label | Independent | |
| Soulers chronology | ||
| Hai (2019) |
Obscura Silva (2019) |
Seas That Swallowed the Night (2019) |
Obscura Silva (Latin for "The Dark Forest") is the twenty-first album by the Canadian solo project Soulers. Released on August 7, 2019, it is the project's first album in two months due to frontman Dai Maō's trip to the hospital to cure an unknown disease which he claims to be the shingles. He did however release two EPs in June. Dai Maō considers Obscura Silva to be the best Soulers album he has ever made.
The 25-minute song "Sacred" begins with a sample of "Symphonic" by Canadian singer Emm Gryner.
Background[]
While releasing two EPs titled Kiri wo Nogareru and VII in June 2019, Dai Maō announced his intention to record a new album in English again and not record another one in Japanese. The recording sessions started the same month, but were postponed in July without notice when he started to have blisters on his forehead, which he stated was caused by shingles.
He was prescribed pills to cure the blisters, but did not continue with the recording until a week later. The last songs were completed in August during which the mixing took place.
Musical style[]
The album has a mixture of Soulers' usual doom metal sound with elements of sludge metal and stoner metal, with shouted vocals and dirty guitar sound.
| “ | "During the recording sessions, I was heavily inspired by Cathedral and With the Dead, and I wanted to mix the styles of these bands. I also decided to be a doom metal version of Coeur de Pirate and become more popular than her." | ” |
— Dai Maō
|
Lyrical themes[]
According to Dai Maō, the album's musical themes "are varied; the song "Requiem"deals with my shingles disease. I felt like I was never able to continue recording after I caught it."
Track listing[]
| No. | Title | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sacred" | 24:50 | |
| 2. | "Longae Noctis" ("Sleepless Nights") | 12:04 | |
| 3. | "Requiem" | 14:38 | |
| 4. | "Obscura Silva" ("The Dark Forest") | 19:96 | |
Total length: |
70:38 | ||
Personel[]
- Dai Maō - All instruments, Vocals